James Caan

Despite an up-and-down career that was mired by excess and irrational behavior, actor James Caan was a gifted performer who was as capable of pulling heart strings as he was of breaking someone's knee...
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Bruce Willis is poised to make his Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of Stephen King's acclaimed novel Misery. The Die Hard star will take on the role of bedridden writer Paul Sheldon, the role James Caan portrayed in the acclaimed 1990 movie version of King's book.
House of Cards actress Elizabeth Marvel will play his crazed captor Annie Wilkes, the part that earned Kathy Bates an Oscar for Best Actress.
Academy Award winner William Goldman, who wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of the 1987 thriller, has also penned the script for the play.

James Caan's estranged wife has filed court documents challenging the veteran actor over custody of their youngest son. The Godfather star filed for divorce from his fourth wife, Linda, earlier this month (Jan15) after 19 years of marriage, and he requested joint custody of their 16-year-old son Jacob.
According to TMZ.com, Linda has now fired back by filing court documents to challenge his request by asking for primary physical custody of Jacob. She is also seeking spousal support from the actor, who previously asked the court to terminate her right to the payments.
This is the third time Caan has filed for divorce from Linda within 10 years. They are also parents to 19-year-old son James, while Caan, 74, has three other children from previous marriages, including Hawaii Five-O star Scott Caan.

Veteran actor James Caan has filed for divorce from his fourth wife Linda, for the third time in their 19-year marriage. The Godfather star wed Linda Stokes in 1996, but their relationship hit a rough patch in 2005, when Caan initially moved to end the union. They reconciled, only for the actor to again file for divorce in 2009.
Now Caan has filed court papers once more, and he is seeking joint custody of the couple's youngest son, 16-year-old Jacob, according to TMZ.com.
The Caans are also parents to James, 19.
The 74 year old also has three other children from previous unions, including Hawaii Five-0 actor Scott Caan, from his second marriage to Sheila Marie Ryan.

Actor Mark Wahlberg lost $45,000 (£28,125) on a single bet while preparing to play a gambling drug addict in new movie The Gambler. The Fighter star has stepped into the role made famous by James Caan in the 1974 original and as part of his movie research, he headed to a casino in Macau, China to try his luck on the tables.
However, what started as a good night quickly turned sour as an ill-advised bet on a high-stakes table cost him the lot.
He explains, "I hit blackjack three times. Needless to say, I won a lot of money. And like my character in the movie, I took every chip off the table and walked right over to the roulette wheel, put it all on black... and lost everything."

Every year, after Thanksgiving ends and Christmas time is officially allowed to begin, I celebrate it by watching Elf. It's been a holiday tradition for the last 11 years and will be one that continues for many years to come. It's not only the best Christmas movie to exist, it's also Will Ferrell's best movie. If you've ever watched Elf, then I'm sure agree with me.
1. So to start, Elf just understands how we all feel about Christmas and Santa:
GIPHY/New Line Cinema
2. It gave us the understanding of why we all smile during this time of year:
GIPHY/New Line Cinema
3. And a new way to answer the phone December 1-25:
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4. We've also got a whole new diet now to get in shape for Christmas:
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5. It also taught us how easy it is to sing in public by yourself:
GIPHY/New Line Cinema
6. And if that person doesn't believe you, then just prove them wrong with a Christmas tune:
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7. Now we know how to spend every day this holiday season:
New Line Cinema/teen.com
8. Christmas time makes us all feel more apologetic and Elf taught us what to say in those times:
GIPHY/New Line Cinema
9. But it also reminded us that people tend to lie:
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10. And if you need to, insult them in a Christmas fashion:
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Christmas burn!
11. We also know how to curse in Elf, thanks to Elf:
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GIPHY/New Line Cinema
12. If you ever visit New York City, you now know that the yellow ones don't stop:
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13. And where the best cup of coffee is:
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14. As well as how to behave in a fancy office building:
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GIPHY/New Line Cinema
15. And the most important reason this movie is the best Christmas movie to ever exist, it's taught us how to spread cheer:
GIPHY/New Line Cinema
Why do you think Elf is the greatest holiday movie of all time? Tweet us your responses!
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Actor James Caan and Barbra Streisand led tributes to their late pal Lauren Bacall following the actress' death on Tuesday (12Aug14). The 89-year-old movie legend died after suffering a stroke at her home in Manhattan, New York.
Caan, who worked with Bacall in 1990's Misery, shared his sorrow in a statement to Entertainment Weekly which reads, "She was a great, uplifting lady who was full of talent and fun. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with her. I will miss her dearly."
Barbra Streisand, who directed Bacall in The Mirror Has Two Faces, says to Billboard.com, "What a terrible loss for us all... It was my privilege to have known her, to have acted with her, and to have directed her... And, most of all, to have had her as a wise and loving friend. She was an original. Even with all those great films we can visit again and again, she will be missed."
Alec Baldwin writes on Twitter.com, "The great Betty Bacall (her birth name) is gone. Read her first autobiography, BY MYSELF. I love that book," while KISS rocker Gene Simmons adds, "Lauren Bacall - sad. R.I.P. She was a class act. She will be missed."
Alan Cumming uploaded a picture of himself with the late actress and writes, "You are a sensation and a killer! (First thing BB ever said to me) RIP Betty you sensational killer," and Richard E. Grant adds, "Worked with Lauren 'Betty' Bacall who called herself a 'Broad'.Took no prisoners, but if she liked you, you were friends for life. Unique."
Other stars have sent their condolences via social media, including John Cusack, Stephen Merchant, Belinda Carlisle, Boy George, Dita Von Teese and Lynda Carter.

British actor Craig Fairbrass has filed suit against his Hollywood movie managers over allegations they cost him money for his 2014 action film The Outsider. The Cliffhanger star accepted a $25,000 (£14,726) advance to play a military contractor in the movie, but agreed to defer his $40,000 (£23,529) fee from ZG Entertainment managers Mark and Christine Holder until after the film's March (14) release.
His filmmaking partner, The Outsider writer/director Brian Miller, also opted to defer his $15,000 (£8,824) purchase price for the script and instead allowed ZG Entertainment bosses to option his screenplay for just $1 (£0.59).
Miller also postponed collecting his $50,000 (£29,412) payment for directing the movie, which also starred James Caan, and was promised a cut of the film's proceeds, according to Los Angeles court papers, obtained by editors at Entlawdigest.com.
The director and his star claim they have yet to receive the full funds from the Holders and they're demanding an accounting of ZG Entertainment's funds and all profits from The Outsider. Fairbrass and Miller are also seeking damages for breach of contract, fraud and copyright infringement.

Hawaii Five-O star Scott Caan has become a first-time father. The actor's girlfriend, Kacy Byxbee, gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter called Josie James, earlier this month (09Jul14), according to E! News.
A source claims Caan took time off from filming the hit TV series to be by Byxbee's side as they welcomed their new bundle of joy.
Caan, the son of veteran actor James Caan, met his partner on the set of Hawaii Five-O.

WENN/Joseph Marzullo
Chloë Grace Moretz has been staying incredibly busy, with new projects being announced and promoted all over the place. Next up for the talented young star is the Japanese animated film The Tale of Princess Kaguya. Studio Ghibli (co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki) is behind this one, and people are expecting great things. Here's a look at the 2013 production:
The movie is based on the oldest recorded Japanese story The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, and tellsof a tiny girl found inside a stalk of bamboo. According to Entertainment Weekly "she grows into a beautiful woman who attracts many suitors, though she hides a secret."
Moretz will voice the lead role of Kaguya, and she stars alongside James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Darren Criss, Lucy Liu, James Marsden, and John Cho.
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Actor Tony Danza is officially heading back to Broadway for the first time in 13 years with a musical adaptation of 1992 movie Honeymoon In Vegas. The Taxi star will take on the role of gambler Tommy Korman, the character made famous by James Caan in the film, about a man who falls for a young woman while she is in Las Vegas to wed her boyfriend.
Actress Brynn O'Malley will play the bride-to-be, depicted by Sarah Jessica Parker on the big screen, while Rob McClure will take on the role Nicolas Cage played in the early 1990s.
Gary Griffin will direct the show, which will begin previews on 18 November (14) at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, ahead of its official opening on 15 January (15).
Danza last appeared on the Great White Way in a 2001 production of The Producers, while he previously featured in The Iceman Cometh in 1999 and A View From the Bridge in 1997.
Rumours about Danza's Broadway return first surfaced in 2011, before producers decided to give the Honeymoon in Vegas musical a trial run at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse last year (13).

Cast as The President in the film adaptation of "Get Smart," based on the 1960s spy parody television series

Summary

Despite an up-and-down career that was mired by excess and irrational behavior, actor James Caan was a gifted performer who was as capable of pulling heart strings as he was of breaking someone's kneecaps. Caan emerged from the cauldron of New York City's thriving acting scene in the 1950s to become a noted player on the stage and on television. Though he graduated to films soon after his salad days in New York after swearing off television for the next several years, he had his first big breakthrough on the small screen, playing dying football player Brian Piccolo in "Brian's Song" (ABC, 1971). His performance in what was considered to be one of the best television movies ever made earned Caan considerable acclaim, as well as an Emmy Award nomination. But the following year put Caan on the map permanently, with his energetic portrayal of the hot-headed Sonny Corleone in "The Godfather" (1972), a role with which he was forever identified - most notably in the numerous mobster roles he played in the ensuing decades. While he had several bright spots as a leading man throughout the years, including as a television regular on "Las Vegas" (NBC, 2003-08) and as the victim of an obsessive fan in the disturbing film, "Misery" (1990), Caan settled into a niche as character actor more often than not, performing some variation of the mobster role that made him famous.

Name

Role

Comments

Arthur Caan

Father

Jewish immigrant from Germany; family name is said to be Dutch version of 'Kahn' or 'Cohen'

Married Oct. 7, 1995; Filed for divorce 2005, but reconciled weeks later; Again filed for divorce November 2009

Education

Name

Rhodes Rhodes Preparatory School

Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre

Michigan State University

Hofstra University

Notes

As a result of his portrayal of Sonny Corleone, Caan is often mistaken for being of Italian ancestry, and has even received recognition from a few Italian-American organizations. However, Caan is of German Jewish descent.

Caan is a practicing martial artist. He has trained with Takayuki Kubota for nearly thirty years.

"I lost my passion for work. No, that's a negative statement. I just had a bigger passion for something else, for my son, and growing up with him. Shit, that's what life's about. It wasn't so negative. It was positive." - Caan quoted in Premiere magazine, December 1991

"Jimmy Caan is one of the best actors I know, and he's only gotten better." - director Mark Rydell quoted in Entertainment Weekly, June 28, 1996

"You know he's got a temper and he thinks he's Italian." - Scott Caan about his father to Entertainment Weekly, June 28, 1996